Should I stay or should I go now?
If I go there will be trouble
And if I stay it will be double
So come on and let me know
Should I stay or should I go?
Our topic of conversation centered around a concern the wife had. What if she was at work, (which is about a 30-minute drive from her rural home), and an "event" occurred.....anything from an EMP to civil unrest. What should be her appropriate course of action? Should she make sure she keeps ample survival supplies on hand at the office (food, flashlights, warm clothes if its winter, firestarter, water, etc.) and just hunker down until the event blows over?
Or should she have a Go-Bag that she can shoulder and immediately start for home? Her first inclination was to just stay put in the relative safety of her office. If she had enough food and a weapon to defend herself, she felt she could hold out until things blew over and then she could just drive home.
But then we played out a different scenario. What if it was truly an EMP? She won't be driving anywhere. And what if it's major chaos -- rioting, looting, burning? How long before the uncivil residents of the city run out of food and start going door to door to take everyone else's? That will happen in either of the aforementioned scenarios. In which case, her position will be overrun.
We quickly came to a consensus: if it is an EMP situation, you probably have two days, three at the most, before those who have not prepared run out of food; and if it is full-blown civil unrest, you have less time than that. So we all decided she should be prepared to leave as soon as possible, whether that meant she loaded her truck up and got the hell out of there, taking the back roads.....OR, if the grid is down, she puts on her comfortable, broken-in hiking boots that stay in her truck, shoulders her back-pack, holsters her weapon, and heads off cross country for home. We decided if she had the GPS coordinates for home, a good compass and a map would allow her to stay off main roads and make a straight line for her destination. A handy pair of nippers to cut through barbed wire that she can't climb over is a must (this is a moral question that everyone has to answer for themselves, and restitution would be mandatory -- cutting fences is a serious offense in ranching country!)
In the final analysis, we all agreed that staying put was not an option. She would be leaving herself open to many more threats than taking her chances on the road. But I want to commend her for playing out this story line in her head. She will be at a tremendous advantage if and when that time comes. She will be way ahead of everyone who will be caught by surprise when the flashpoint happens. She will be way out in front and she will increase her chances of surviving the event tenfold. This is a woman with a plan!
Proverbs 16:9 "In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps."
I personally wouldn't be cutting anyone's barbed wire fence. Wouldn't want them to cut anything of mine. Do unto other's. But definitely head home at the first moment of problems. Our daughter has the instructions of "If it is an EMP, wait in place for dad and brother to walk by and pick up. Other emergency, get in truck and get home!" Glad your friend was able to talk this over with you. Prepare for the worst, pray for the best.
ReplyDeleteYou're right.....that's why I said cutting fence is a moral question; should only be done when absolutely necessary, and restitution should be mandatory. Good advice to your daughter! More parents should have this talk.
Delete